Bitcoin Trader Faces 30 Months in Prison
June 11 2018 - 12:48PM
InvestorsHub NewsWire
Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
June 11, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- A Los Angeles
bitcoin trader faces more than two years in jail for running an
illegal money transmitting business. Fifty-year-old Theresa Tetley
worked under the name "Bitcoin Maven," on LocalBitcoins.com. She
made at least $300,000 a year from trading bitcoin between 2014 and
2017. She made transactions over that time worth from $6 million to
$9.5 million.
Tetley has already pled guilty to
operating an unregistered money transmission business. But some of
the transactions hint that there could be a deeper issue than just
trading Bitcoins for USD. One exchange for around 80 BTC was sold
for just $70,000. This would mean a BTC price of only $875.
Prosecutors allege it involved the proceeds of drug trafficking,
according to court documents.
Tetley faces a 30-month federal
jail sentence for the crimes, but her defense team is pushing for a
lesser sentence of one year. Federal prosecutors also hope to seize
40 BTC (currently worth $270,000), $292,264 and 25 gold bars seized
by law enforcement agents in March.
Regarding her activities, the
Prosecutors Office said in court documents that they "fueled a
black-market financial system in the Central District of California
that purposely and deliberately existed outside of the regulated
bank industry."
Other Illegal Bitcoin Trading
In the U.S.
While the case is thought to the
first of its kind in Southern California, There have been other
instances of bitcoin traders being brought to court for illegal
money transmission businesses.
One Detroit citizen was sentenced
in December 2017 to 366 days in jail for similarly operating an
unlicensed money services business. Sal Mansy funneled bitcoin
transactions through a corporation he owned totalling transactions
of about $2.4 million-worth of bitcoin over a two-year
period.
Another case brought a father and
son trading team Randall and Michael Lord to court with additional
charges related to drugs. Last May they were handed jail sentences
of 106 months and 46 months for running an unlawful money business.
The son, Michael Lord, also pled guilty to a charge involving
narcotics distribution.
By: BGN Editorial Staff
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